They say the want all the data, all the votes, all the records of the coin flips -- full "transparency."

Once again the world is laughing at Iowa. Late-night comedians and social media mavens are having a field day with jokes about missing caucusgoers and coin flips.

Thatís fine. We can take ribbing over our quirky process. But what we can't stomach is even the whiff of impropriety or error.

What happened Monday night at the Democratic caucuses was a debacle, period. Democracy, particularly at the local party level, can be slow, messy and obscure. But the refusal to undergo scrutiny or allow for an appeal reeks of autocracy.

The Iowa Democratic Party must act quickly to assure the accuracy of the caucus results, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

First of all, the results were too close not to do a complete audit of results. Two-tenths of 1 percent separated Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. A caucus should not be confused with an election, but itís worth noting that much larger margins trigger automatic recounts in other states.

The Sanders campaign is already attempting their own review, matching their notes of caucus votes against the officially claimed results. When asked to participate in this, the Democrat Party said, "Nope."

Dr. Andy McGuire, chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party, dug in her heels and said no. She said the three campaigns had representatives in a room in the hours after the caucuses and went over the discrepancies.

They're doing their level best, and their crooked worst, to make this lead balloon rise sluggishly off the ground, and she's still earthbound.